The good news is that Tokarski was not the problem…..

Dustin Tokarski, in his first NHL playoff game, had a pretty good evening. In fact, he wasn’t the story of the night. The Canadiens had a much better game than Saturday – yes it’s true the bar was pretty low – but they still couldn’t match the Rangers offensively and Henrik Lundqvist had just a stellar game, stopping 40 of 41 shots sent in his direction. The Rangers out-played the Habs. Simple as that.

Though that didn’t stop the Hockey Night in Canada After 40 Minutes panel of Elliotte Friedman, P.J. Stock and Kelly Hrudey from beating up on the young goalie, blaming him for the Habs’ woes. So unfair. In passing, since when do all three members of a panel all have the same opinion – and hmmm, it just happens to be a tough criticism of the Habs coach and his goaltending decision. Even Don Cherry had the class at the end of the broadcast to say The Kid had done just fine in the nets.

So that’s the good news. Tokarski was fine. The real bad news is that the Rangers are up 2-nuffin going back to the Big Apple. Even worse, the Good Guys had an amazing first period and still came out of it down 2-1. Pierre McGuire said it last week on Mitch Melnick’s show and clearly he wasn’t kidding – he said you won’t like to hear this but Lundqvist is just incredibly dialed in. Lundqvist is good but I also think we’re making him look good.

Montreal just can’t score. First-off, can we please bench Thomas Vanek. I don’t care if he eventually scores a goal. He just irritates me beyond belief. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a lazy player. And he can be a total doofus. What about that play when he was in alone on Lundqvist and he decided to pass the puck back the way. WTF!

But no one’s scoring. Plekanec, Bourque, Vanek, DD. Nada. These guys have to score.

Michel Therrien says Lundqvist stole the game. And that’s half true. The Habs played very good and they just couldn’t get the rubber past him. Therrien’s other point is that the momentum can change very quickly in a playoff and that’s totally true. So let’s hope that momentum shifts real quick cos timing is running out for Les Boys.

It’s amazing how the mood of the town shifts. Late last week, it was sheer euphoria.Now it’s not quite panic but more a sense of dark forboding. But it ain’t over. Let’s get that momentum shift going.